Okay, it's New Year's, and I'm starting to go through my backlog of games and playing. As I finish (or get tired of trying to work) games, I'll give 'em away here.

So, the first one is up right now:

1602 A.D. (Jewelcase only)

Karma +20 now.

Oh, and I have 2 freebies to go out. They'll hopefully be going out in a week or so. Combination of money issues and time issues and being sick, blah blah blah. Anyway, GTA 3 and Noctropolis are still due to go out, guys.

The states have recently passed some new laws defining services such as MMORPGs. They break the game into 3 components.

1) Client. You buy this in the box. It is a tangible product and hence taxable.

2) Internet connection. This is not provided by Blizzard, but is a taxable item collected through your ISP.

The third item is really 2 parts3A) This is the maintence, support, tech support, forums, server access, etc. This is a service (and in most cases) non-taxable.

3B) Content updates. The patch file you download is a tangible (i.e. file that could just as easily been put on a CD and sold in a retail store) and is hence taxable.

Since no company line items their fee, the states are taxing the whole thing as an indivisible item. This gets around the service vs. product arguement. It gets taxed just like any other product you might buy that is subject to a Use tax. (Use tax is just a fancy way of saying sales tax from a vendor outside of the state's taxing authority).

As far as we can tell, it has to do with the physical locations of Blizzard's Servers.

Gamefly needs more competition, though. Blockbuster can jump in here as well, and I'm surprised they haven't yet. Ah well, I'm not buying any games (other than getting my X-Box fixed, spending my Xmas Gift Card, and getting FFTA, and getting TotalGaming.net) at all in 2005.

If we're doing tallies:Tie tack/soccer jersey from Chile where my dad spent the last monthThe official 'mission shirt' from the joint NASA/Chilean Armada mission he was onAmerica: The Book, a book from one of the essayists interviewed on the Daily Show, and a $25 B&N gift cardAll-day paintball pass with equipment rentalSome really nice athletic wear; sweatshirt, shorts, and one of those nice Under Armour shirts.

I got America from a B Dalton that's shutting down for $15. It's actually by the host of the Daily Show, Jon Stewart. And it's funny as hell.

If we're doing tallies:Tie tack/soccer jersey from Chile where my dad spent the last monthThe official 'mission shirt' from the joint NASA/Chilean Armada mission he was onAmerica: The Book, a book from one of the essayists interviewed on the Daily Show, and a $25 B&N gift cardAll-day paintball pass with equipment rentalSome really nice athletic wear; sweatshirt, shorts, and one of those nice Under Armour shirts.

I got America from a B Dalton that's shutting down for $15. It's actually by the host of the Daily Show, Jon Stewart. And it's funny as hell.

- Tons of new quests, mostly for solo players!- New Character Differentiation option: Training!- Lots of artisan recipe and ability fixes!- Eat healthy! New examine information to explain the benefits of food and drink!- Brawlers get built-in shields!- Guild followers can spend the status they earn at city merchants!- Now easier to equip rings, wrist items, and weapons!- Slash that dot! Maps now show your current heading!- Lots of UI tweaks and enhancements!- More bug fixes than you can shake a moss snake at!

*** Training ***

- Characters now receive a new character differentiation option every ten adventure levels: Training!- Training allows you to choose one of four new abilities. Each of these spells or arts builds off abilities you've been using but substantially increases their effectiveness and benefit.- The choice is yours whether you prefer a stronger attack, a more potent buff, a heartier heal, or a handier utility function. Training allows you to enhance specific aspects of your character and be a bit unique.- These Training abilities have a longer span of effectiveness than most common spells and arts, so they'll prove very useful to you.- Note: Characters who reach levels 10 and 20 will not be prompted to make their Training selections until they leave their current zone and enter another. This is a known issue that will be corrected in a future update.

IMPORTANT!- You will not be able to receive quest rewards until you make any pending character differentiation choices available to you.

*** Gameplay ***

- Group members can now join other group members in a specific instance of a zone even if that zone has reached its capacity.- If a character dies and is given the option to be revived in a different zone, the revive window will allow the player to choose from multiple instances if they are available.- Harvesting quests can no longer be completed by purchasing the items from a broker.- Spells that debuff the target's maximum health or power now work appropriately.- Fixed a bug that could cause you to fall under the world while swimming.- Removed the restriction that only guild patrons can spend status points.- You are no longer able to swap bags into your shared bank if one of the bags contains a lore or no-trade item.- You are no longer able to drag lore items from your overflow slot into the shared bank.- Fixed a bug that caused rare mastery quest items not to drop from solo encounters.

*** Controls, Commands, and UI ***

- Character Select: If you choose to delete a character, you will now be asked to type in the character name.- Inventory: The overflow slot now features a context menu that allows you to examine the item, move it to your inventory, or destroy it.- Inventory: The default behavior when dragging a stack of items or coins has changed to drag the entire stack. To choose a quantity, hold down the Shift key while dragging. Holding down the Control key while dragging still picks up a single item from the stack.- Inventory: You can now drag bag windows if your mouse pointer is over an empty slot.- Inventory: If you attempt to equip a weapon that is not compatible with what you're wielding, your current weapons will be unequipped for you. For example, if you are currently holding a sword and shield and attempt to equip a two-handed weapon, both the sword and shield will be unequipped.- Inventory: Equipping items in the wrist and finger slots is much easier.- Inventory: Double-clicking a second dual-wield weapon in your inventory should now allow it to be equipped properly.- Inventory: Added information on the value of various kinds of food and drink in the examine window and tooltip.- Guild UI: Class and Name columns are now sized according to their content.- Guild UI: Guild UI now displays the guild status earned by each patron in the "Standing" column.- Guild UI: Fixed the confirmation screen for guild demotions.- Main UI: The society window's members list will now sort correctly on rank, level, current status, and total status when you click on the column headers.- Main UI: Fixed a bug causing only the first embedded item link to get the link color.- Main UI: Custom chat channels now use their assigned channel colors.- Main UI: Maps now have a heading indicator instead of a dot.- Main UI: Coins in your bank and in a trade window now have a tooltip.- Main UI: Clicking on a map icon now creates a temporary waypoint and a wisp to that location. For real this time.- Main UI: Various points of interest have been added to the city maps.- Main UI: UI window settings should now save more consistently.- Main UI: You will receive notification when players on your friends list log in and out.- Main UI: The tooltip on the experience bar now reports experience debt more accurately.- Main UI: The con color of quests is now visible on the quest acceptance window.- Main UI: Hotkey macros can now have up to three command lines, which are executed in order.- Main UI: Hotkeys should no longer flash when a heroic opportunity starter chain fails.- Main UI: Only relevant hotkeys should flash during a heroic opportunity.- Main UI: Items that cannot be equipped no longer show their condition in the examine window.- Main UI: Items can now be dropped anywhere in the trade window. If you drop an item somewhere that doesn't make sense, it will be placed into the leftmost available spot.- Tradeskill UI: When repeating a recipe, the components window will now remember which particular items you previously selected.

Heritage Quests- Some modifications have been made to the Bag of Sewn Evil Eye, Polished Granite Tomahawk, and Stein of Moggok quests.- The tradeskill tutorial window should no longer show up during the Dwarven Workboots quest.

Quest Updates- The experience gained when completing catalog quests has been modified.- Catalog quests should now reward players when completed.- The zombie mastery trophy has a new appearance.- The access quest to Fallen Gate should now be working properly.- Players should now be able to finish the "Vale of the Shattering" quest.- Some modifications have been made to Ian Cathlan's armor quests.- The "Acidic Liquid" quest will now reward an item of a more appropriate level.- The level of the "Failed Assassin" quest has been increased to match the difficulty of the targets of the quest.- The quest level for "The Lost Religion of Fallen Gate" has been increased. Skullsprainer weapons have been removed from the quest.- Society tasks will now reward players with coin in the quest reward window.- The reward for "Green Hood Ration Recipe" has been changed to something more appropriate.- Lore and Legends quests are no longer flagged as Mastery. They'll now have their own quest category type.- The "History of the Feir'Dal" book has been added to sage merchants in Qeynos.- The rat collar quest in Edgewater Drains is no longer repeatable. The reward has been set to be Lore and No Trade.- The level and experience rewarded in the "Snake Slayings" quest has been modified to better match the difficulty of the quest.- The Leatherfoot Brigade quests can now be completed more easily.- "Keep of the Ardent Needle" is no longer labeled as an Access quest. It is now labeled as an Antonica quest.- "Recovery of Bloodsaber Plans" and "Into the Crypt of Betrayal" are no longer labeled as Access quests. They are now labeled as quests for Elddar Grove.- "Cleansing of the Firemyst Gully" should now be working correctly.- Dialogues have been modified in the "Skullsprainer" quest.- The Collection quests for moths and butterflies should now properly reward players. Players will need to speak with the collector NPCs to have the larger collections added.- Kregnok's Axe is no longer obtainable as a quest reward.- The amount of experience rewarded for completing "Tillin's Gnoll Woes" has been lowered.- "Shadow Axe" has had its reward changed.- "Rings that Thirst" had its reward changed.- Celeg Ixuri, Ikara V'Tahl, Obere Warrain, Narek Bonecarver, Shadowdash, and Ott Stompgut should no longer appear if the armor quest they are part of has been completed.- Books found in adventure areas that provide quests had their respawn times reduced from 5 minutes to 15 seconds.- The Deathfist Access quest will now work properly if the character's journal is full and has been changed to a Hallmark quest.- The Polished Granite Tomahawk recipe and pristine piece of granite have been marked as No Trade, No Value, and No Destroy.- Language quest items have been changed to be Lore and had their drop rate increased.- The "Insulated Warmers" quest will now update correctly.- All steps for the "Hundred Fold Blade" quest are no longer displayed immediately on starting.- The Orcish Wastes creature catalog quest has been updated.- The Qeynos Catacombs creature catalog quest has been updated.- The Elephant Hide Boots quest will now update correctly when defeating Dervish Cutthroats.- The Feerrott creature catalog quest has been updated.- Mr. Burpbelly can once again be found within Fallen Gate.- Betrayers should now be able to select their tradeskill class and subclass correctly.- Qeynos betrayers should no longer be able to accept and complete another class quest within Freeport.- The Bird Watching tome quest has had its reward modified.- Several tome quests had their category changed from Miscellaneous to the zone in which they are meant to be completed.- The Fury subclass quest in Freeport has been adjusted.- "Pretty Ponies, All in a Row" can now be completed.- Dancer should now give you her second quest even if you end the dialogue or happen to die in the middle of speaking with her.- "The One Who Got Away" quest has been modified.- "Rumble" should now update correctly.- "Freedom" should now update correctly.- "Virtue Belt" should now update correctly.- "Blood Ore Basher" should now update correctly and had some typos fixed.- Striped spiders should now update the Striped Spider collection quest.- Vital portions of Rask Helstot's quests can no longer be deleted.- Experience rewards have been removed from the following quests: Report to Marauder Kindolus Report to Disciple Telas'velle Report to Aesthetic Winchester Report to Missionary Jenson Report to Sergeant Ironcast Report to Guard Rellin'thir Report to Baron Zafimus Report to Shepherd Sell'ar Report to Archivist Jindlefog Report to Chronicler Steelwill Report to Boatswain Fomas Report to Liege Helvanica Report to Naturalist Tummyfill

*** Zones ***

Commonlands- The zombie maid should no longer be dropping inappropriate treasure.- Ghostly orcs are no longer classified as living orcs.

The Down Below- Several items that drop in the zone had a stat increase.- Fallen Nobles should no longer spawn inside walls.

Fallen Gate- Some areas within the zone have been re-leveled.- Players should now be able to retrieve their corpses from the Fallen Gate doors if they do not have a key to the zone.

Nektulos Forest- A dragoon guard near Theeral the Nomad has been removed.

The Sprawl- Giantslayers are now more plentiful.

Thundering Steppes- The class type of a Varsoon apprentice has been modified.- Doomsquall and Grimfeather will no longer camp players at the zone line.- The drop rates for items obtained from Doomsquall and Grimfeather have been modified.- An additional respawn camp has been added into the zone.

Vermin's Snye- Triggers for the level 20 priest hallmark quest should now only appear when the player is on the proper stage.- Infected burrowers and infected tomb vermin should no longer have pets.

Antonica- The Bandits involved in the Flowing Black Silk Sash quest will now despawn after a set amount of time if they are left untouched.- Additional marine life has been added to water areas.- Scarecrows should now show their names.

North Qeynos- Executor Adept Sal`ynelle has been moved to the Ironforge Estate.

Runnyeye Citadel- A Runnyeye armorer will no longer drop treasure associated with another NPC.

The Ruins of Varsoon- The Creator should no longer break encounters when attacked.

Stormhold- The secret entrance door linking Antonica and Stormhold must now be unlocked from inside Stormhold before it can be used.

Miscellaneous Updates- Several spells have been added to the treasure tables in Stormhold, Thundering Steppes, Nektulos Forest, the Crypt of Betrayal, and Edgewater Drains.- The re-use timers for epic and instanced zones have been changed based on the level of the zone.- Changes were made to instanced zone junctions to only allow up to the maximum number of people intended to enter the zone.

*** NPCs ***

- Kizdean Gix will no longer disguise himself as a female. He has also decided to carry a certain key.- Lady Faideth will no longer attempt to appear to be male.- Icsillinatis the Marrow Fiend and Captain Surestout should now drop items appropriate to the difficulty of their encounters.- Bosses in Permafrost, Runnyeye Citadel, and Feerrott should now behave appropriately.- Scribe Zizwold will no longer drop an owlbear feather.- Players who end their conversation with Investigator Targok can now continue to receive their quests.- The spawn time on Tinmizer's astounding frostdisruptors in Orcish Wastes and Enchanted Lands has been reduced.- Tangle Weed's minions should now follow properly and not wander off on their own.- Mender Manus will wait until you are closer to him before calling out.- Chaplin Graveguzzle can now be found by looking in the proper location.

*** Mechanics ***

- Dual Wield is now listed in the skill window for all professions who can use dual wield weapons.- Slightly increased the block rate of round shields.- Adjusted shields to provide a more noticable benefit at higher levels of quality.- The Safe Fall skill will now increase through use.- The cost of light and higher armor types on vendors has been reduced.- Scouts can attempt to disarm traps beyond their current skill level. Even if unsuccessful they have the chance to gain skill through use.- Removed the ability for bralwers, monks, and bruisers to equip shields.- Increased brawler Deflection to provide the equivalent of always having a buckler equipped.- Increased monk and bruiser Deflection to provide the equivalent of always having a round shield equipped.

*** Items ***

- The price of the Market Bulletin Board has been reduced.- The colors of certain ranger and monk armor quest rewards have been modified.- The appearance of the level 20 bruiser quest armor has been changed.- Band of the Soulstripper no longer looks like a chain chestpiece.- The names of some Heritage Paintings have been corrected.- The Ghoulbane will now do bane damage to the undead.- The Fishbone Earring has been modified slightly.- The Greater Lightstone will now shed a yellow light.- The Charred Bone has been changed to No Trade, No Value, Lore.- The stats of Cap of the Ethernere have been increased.- A Glowing Black Stone has been changed to No Trade.- The following items have been set to No Trade, Lore, and No Value: Crude Blueprint, Tattered Diary, Acidic Gland, Rat Collar, and a Trooper Signet.- All Legend and Lore quest items should now be using the correct icon.- Assault Axes have been changed to be one-handed instead of two-handed.- The Shiny Brass Halberd has been made No Trade and Lore.- Starfall no longer appears as a scourge and is more like the description given in the quest.- Many new quest rewards and loot drops have been added to the game.

*** Spells ***

- The damage on Lanet's Excruciating Scream has been increased.- All spell scrolls should now list the tier after the name instead of before it.- Apprentice IV ward spells can now absorb an increased amount of damage.- Class and Subclass "Vitae" lines of spells should now stack correctly.- Odyssey has been changed to only be used on group/raid members.- Protection of the Seasons now adds heat and cold resistances correctly.- Ensnaring Roots, Grasping Roots, and Seizing Vines affect movement speed correctly.- Decree of Decay has been fixed to allow the lifetap effect to work correctly.- Wisdom of Zephyl increases skill with updgrades correctly.- Frozen Manacle's root duration has been increased.- The description for Venomous Runes was changed to be more reflective of the actual spell effect.- Runic Shield had its description changed to be more clear.- Spirit of the Rhino was fixed to allow application to the group. Note that this ward only protects against elemental and noxious damage.- Umbral Fortitude should now increase divine resistance as intended.- Sibyllant should now have its damage effect working properly.- Noxious Bolt had its description clarified.- Boon of the Lifeless had its description clarified.- Flaming Agony now includes a DoT effect and had its spell icon changed.- Quicksand had its movement decrease effect increased.- Mend Bones should now cost the caster health as was intended.- Spiritual Seal had its description clarified.- Favor of the Phoenix should now only allow revival of the correct classes.- There were many additional updates and fixes to address spell bugs and balance issues.

*** Combat Arts ***

- Escape has been changed to a 5-second cast time with a 30-minute recast.- Power Cleave should now be available on the appropriate merchants.- Stealth abilities no longer stack.- Focused Rage had its description clarified.- Unfriendly Reminder should now lower the target's agility as intended.- Ignore Pain should now increase in effectiveness with upgrades.- Intimidating Orders should now increase in effectiveness with upgrades.- Watery Shot should now reduce the target's power correctly.- Break Through now has the correct skill requirement.- Bob and Weave should now increase in effectiveness with upgrades.- Kidney Blow had its description clarified.- Haymaker should now increase in effectiveness with upgrades.- Bouncer had its description clarified.- Fury should now increase in effectiveness with upgrades.- Grapple now includes a stun effect.- Bloodlust should now increase in effectiveness with upgrades.- There were many additional updates and fixes to address combat art bugs and balance issues.

*** Tradeskills & Societies ***

- Artisans level 15-19 and 25-29 should now receive tasks of a level near or slightly below their own.- Several alchemy potions/poison recipes have been fixed.- Society task rewards have been reduced.- The Manastone Heritage quest recipe should now be working correctly.- New raids are now available for guilds level 20 and 25.- Alchemy Potions and Poisons have been changed to Baubles. They are no longer stackable and will use their charges properly.- Multiple city writ quests can no longer be obtained from the same NPC.- Fixed a bug that allowed city task NPCs to issue quests to players whose citizenship did not match that of their guild leader at the time of the guild's formation.- The kill quotas have been reduced for the level 15+ Social Structure quests.- New tradeskill quests have been created that reward players with guild experience and status points.- Power Cleave can now be created using a tradeskill recipe.- New tradeskill tasks are now available for players between level 30 and 50.- Spell and combat art creation has been changed to allow for different qualities of scrolls to be created. Apprentice IV spells and arts will now result when a pristine spell or art is successfully made.- Multiple fixes were made to advanced craftsman recipes.- Reactive arts now share reuse timers across the same crafting lines.- Stacking rules for the benefits received from reactive arts have been revised.- Some special events have been changed in frequency and severity.- Refine basil has been added to the Tradeskill Essentials 3 book. Players who have scribed this book automatically gain the ability to refine basil.- Tin Plate now uses the correct tradeskill techniques to counter negative events.- Player-crafted food and drink durations have been adjusted.- Cream cheese has been added to tradeskill wholesalers.- Edible refined components were removed from tradeskill vendors.- Advanced Crafting Volumes should now work properly.- Missing Adept III spell and art scrolls have been added to recipe books.- The Outfitter Essential recipe for the Iron Crescent Axe has been fixed.- Essence of Bully: Adept III has been added to Advanced Alchemist Vol. 45.- Liquefied Sycamore has been added to scholar recipes.- The iron bar recipe has been changed to use the correct knowledge types and techniques.- Pristine versions of Carbonite Vanguard armor can now be created.- Loss of harvesting skills should no longer occur when a character's tradeskill level is higher than the adventuring level.- The burlap thread recipe has been changed to use the correct knowledge types and techniques.- The iron plate recipe has been changed to use the correct knowledge types and techniques.- The burlap yarn recipe has been changed to use the correct knowledge types and techniques.

*** Player Housing ***

- A one-room apartment in Qeynos now allows a hundred furnishings to be placed inside it, and two vendors can now operate from a single merchant board.

*** Status ***

- Status gain messages have been add to Social Structure tasks.- Status defrayment values have been added to in-game furniture items that did not previously have them.- Guild followers can now use their status points to purchase items from City Merchants.

Characters- Whips can now be holstered when wielded in the secondary slot.- Fixed orbs to show up when wielded in the secondary slot.- Added eight new one-handed spears.- Added eight new fighting sticks.- Fixed some robe issues to allow helmets, hair, and bracers to display properly.

Zones- Fixed bugs that caused players to fall below the world in Stonestair Byway, Starcrest Commune, and Freeport five-room apartments. - Fixed some disappearing NPC issues in Graystone Yard and the Orcish Wastes. - Made some minor cosmetic fixes to Qeynos Harbor and South Qeynos. - Opened access to the bear caves in Nektulos Forest.- Fixed some rock placements in Antonica. - Improved the environment settings for the boats leading to Everfrost and Lavastorm.- Improved door functionality in Solusek's Eye.

I rented this on DVD as well and watched it with my S.O.. About 3/4 of the way through the movie we looked at each other with that, "do you think this sucks as much as I do?" look.

Another of the underlying ideals that make Spiderman who he is, and this is right out of the original comics, is his guilt over not stopping the thug who later on that night murders his uncle. We are then shown a scene where Peter see's a man being mugged and turns his back on the whole thing because he's now changed his mind and decided NOT to be Spiderman.

You do recall that the story of Spider-Man 2 was directly from the comics, "Spider-Man No More!" being the title of the issue. I believe he did the exact same thing there. Quit the suit, walked away from superhero stuff completely, et al. It was a crisis of conscience. Just noting

One thing that must be noted, and Hank Aaron hit it right on the head.

Steroids do NOT help you hit home runs. They don't help your head figure out where the pitch is and when to swing it. All they do is make you stronger. It makes the ball go 450 feet instead of 425.

The thing Hank said that might impact the HR issues, though, especially with Bonds, Caminiti, et al is that it might make -recovery- time quicker, in essence making you feel younger and have higher stamina which in turn would lead to being able to swing the bat just as hard for a much longer stretch of time.

That being said, I view this to be as bad as what happened with Detroit and Indiana in basketball.

The X-Box Thompson problem (which I also suffer from) is a similar issue as Sony had with the first PS2s. The DVD drives simply were not high quality, and had a high malfunction/failure rate. Sony eventually owned up to it, and offered to fix them for free.

Microsoft has yet to do this, and has a class action suit brewing, from what I've heard.

Granted, the fact that a $150-300 CONSOLE only has a 90 day warranty is stupid to begin with. Then again, warranties in general are dying out.